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SYDNEY: Hackers accessed the court recordings database in Australia's Victoria state and disrupted the audio-visual in- court Technology network, impacting recordings and transcription services, an official said on Tuesday. Recordings of some court hearings between Nov. 1 and Dec. 21, 2023 may have been stolen, Court Services Victoria CEO Louise Anderson said in a statement. Some hearings before Nov. 1 may also have been affected, she said. "The potential access is confined to recordings stored on the network. No other court systems or records, including employee or financial data, were accessed," Anderson said. Hearings in January would proceed after the affected network was isolated and disabled, and court officials were working closely with the government's cyber security experts. Court Services Victoria did not reveal whether it received any ransomware demands. State-sponsored cyber groups and hackers have stepped up their assault on Australia...

The US Supreme Court on Friday agreed to decide the legality of Republican-backed state laws in Texas and Florida that constrain the ability of social media companies to curb content on their platforms that these businesses deem objectionable. The justices took up two cases involving challenges by technology industry groups who argued that these 2021 laws restricting the content-moderation practices of large social media platforms violate the US Constitution's First Amendment protections for freedom of speech. Lower courts split on the issue, striking down key provisions of Florida's law while upholding the Texas measure. The industry challengers to the laws are NetChoice and the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA), industry groups whose members include Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc, Alphabet Inc's Google, which owns YouTube, as well as TikTok and X, formerly called Twitter. CCIA President Matt Schruers called the court's decision...

Montana Governor Greg Gianforte on Wednesday signed legislation to ban Chinese-owned TikTok from operating in the state to protect residents from alleged intelligence gathering by China, making it the first US state to ban the popular short video app. Montana will make it unlawful for Google and Apple's app stores to offer TikTok within the state , but will not impose any penalties on individuals using the app. The ban is to take effect Jan. 1, 2024, and is almost certain to face legal challenges. TikTok, owned by Chinese tech company ByteDance, did not respond to a Reuters question asking if it planned legal action. Earlier, TikTok issued a state ment saying that the new law "infringes on the First Amendment rights of the people of Montana by unlawfully banning TikTok," and said it will "continue working to defend the rights of our users inside and outside of Montana." TikTok, which has over 150 million American users, has faced growing calls from US lawm...